Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Raymond James Financial Analyst Says

Key Points

• Raymond James Financial raised its target price for Avantor from $14.00 to $16.00, indicating a potential upside of 10.15% from the stock's previous close, along with an "outperform" rating.
• Despite positive ratings from some analysts, the company's revenue for the last quarter showed a 1.1% decline year-over-year, alongside an earnings miss of $0.01 per share.
• A significant majority of Avantor's stock (95.08%) is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds, reflecting strong backing from major financial entities.

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR - Get Free Report) had its target price hoisted by analysts at Raymond James Financial from $14.00 to $16.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an "outperform" rating on the stock. Raymond James Financial's target price suggests a potential upside of 10.15% from the company's previous close.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on Avantor from $18.00 to $16.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Avantor from $17.00 to $14.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $12.00 price target on Avantor and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their target price on Avantor from $20.00 to $17.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Finally, Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on Avantor from $18.00 to $15.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $15.81.

Avantor Trading Up 4.7%

AVTR stock traded up $0.66 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $14.53. The company's stock had a trading volume of 7,009,014 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,602,858. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.70, a PEG ratio of 4.54 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.98. Avantor has a 1 year low of $10.82 and a 1 year high of $26.14. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $12.94 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $13.38.

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Friday, August 1st. The company reported $0.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.25 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $1.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.67 billion. Avantor had a net margin of 10.31% and a return on equity of 11.39%. Avantor's revenue for the quarter was down 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.25 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Avantor will post 1.06 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Avantor news, CAO Steven W. Eck sold 3,476 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.39, for a total transaction of $39,591.64. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 55,068 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $627,224.52. The trade was a 5.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Avantor

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in AVTR. Dodge & Cox boosted its stake in shares of Avantor by 17.1% during the 2nd quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 117,433,484 shares of the company's stock worth $1,580,655,000 after acquiring an additional 17,170,761 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Avantor by 1.5% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 64,952,926 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,052,887,000 after purchasing an additional 983,172 shares during the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Avantor by 1.5% during the first quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 41,969,199 shares of the company's stock valued at $680,321,000 after buying an additional 608,806 shares in the last quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. raised its holdings in Avantor by 89.8% during the first quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 18,127,204 shares of the company's stock valued at $293,842,000 after buying an additional 8,578,493 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Avantor by 36.5% in the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 15,933,860 shares of the company's stock worth $214,470,000 after purchasing an additional 4,264,449 shares during the period. 95.08% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Avantor

Avantor, Inc engages in the provision of mission-critical products and services to customers in the biopharma, healthcare, education and government, advanced technologies, and applied materials industries in the Americas, Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and Africa. The company offers materials and consumables, such as purity chemicals and reagents, lab products and supplies, formulated silicone materials, customized excipients, customized single-use assemblies, process chromatography resins and columns, analytical sample prep kits, education and microbiology products, clinical trial kits, peristaltic pumps, and fluid handling tips.

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